Republican White House hopeful Rick Perry raised over $17 million in 49 days, DRUDGE has learned. $347,000 per day; 20,000 unique donors from all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam. With more than half of donors living outside of Texas... Developing...

The $17 million figure, which a Perry spokesman confirms to me, is almost as much as Mitt Romney raised in his first quarter as a declared presidential candidate this year.

It's also more than Rudy Giuliani and John McCain raised in the first quarter of 2007, when they were campaigning in a stronger economy and a more donor-rich environment.

Perry had slightly less time to fundraise this quarter than Romney did in his first quarter this cycle, and the Texas governor's performance could go a long way toward changing the narrative about the arc of his campaign. His haul will also increase the pressure on Romney to hand in another strong quarter, as well as to show a clear advantage over Perry in the cash on hand department.

The fact that Perry's camp leaked word to Drudge first is also notable. Ben pointed out yesterday that Drudge's site has consistently portrayed Perry as an "inept, flagging candidate," while going easy on Romney.

That's not the takeaway from this morning's Drudge Report banner: "PERRY POWERHOUSE: PULLS IN $17 MILLION."